PReparing to rebound

The added importance of public relations and social media in today’s times.

By Ellen Linnemann

The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of every business – including marketing and public relations. Although during the height of the pandemic some companies may have made the decision to put marketing on the back burner, businesses today are quickly discovering that having effective communications and public relations strategies in place can make a tremendous difference in how they not only move on … but move in the right direction.

As businesses continue to get “back to business”, therefore, marketing and PR are taking on added importance for companies and organizations throughout all industries. However, the changed world we now live in — and the need to adjust both marketing tactics and messaging – is driving a great deal of today’s most effective marketing and public relations strategies. And nowhere is that seen more than in the move towards creating and executing targeted digital marketing and social media campaigns that are proving extremely effective in helping to not only communicate key messages, but build businesses.

In these unprecedented times, in fact, it’s never been more important to continue to communicate the right messages through social media than it is now. And it seems like the phrase “listen before you speak” has never been more appropriate – where it’s critical to not only deliver the right messages about your company and/or brand to your followers (and clients/potential clients) but to deliver them with compassion, understanding and empathy.

Social listening allows you to track, analyze, and respond to conversations about your brand on social media in real-time. It’s all about “listening” to what clients have to say about your services online, then making necessary changes based upon those comments. This happens in a two-step process:

• Monitor your social media channels for mentions of your brand, products, and relevant keywords.
• Analyze the information and respond accordingly. This can mean anything from responding to a customer’s comment to re-evaluating your company’s messaging.

Like all industries “rebooting” from the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, marketing and PR have made adjustments in both the approach, and execution, of helping to build businesses. These changes, including an increased emphasis on digital marketing and social media, will continue to make value-added marketing programs increasingly important in the months and years to come – and perhaps the best way to not only create widespread awareness of your business, but help build excitement and momentum as together we all move on to business growth in 2021.

---

In these busy times, most business owners today don’t have time to manage their social accounts themselves, let alone spend hours scrolling through comments. There are, however, some social listening tools that you can be using to help monitor the conversations surrounding your business – and make sure you “hear” what’s going on — and what’s being said – about your brand.

Hubspot

Hubspot’s social media product is a one-stop-shop for building campaigns, sharing content, and media analytics. You can also create custom keyword streamings so you can monitor the conversations being had about your brand.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite’s social media monitoring dashboard displays messages, comments, and brand mention across several platforms so you can respond to them all in one place.

Sprout Social

Sprout Social’s software uses real-time data monitoring to track conversations and brand-specific keywords. The program also offers social listening tools to help you scale up your engagement and notice emerging trends.